Shaped
by Toby Danger
Summary: Elie travels back to Symphonia with her family, to square things with the person who shaped her life... (post series)


Groove Adventure Rave: Shaped

Groove Adventure Rave is copyright of Kodansha and Konami. No infringement is intended.

My final story for the year!! This on is set in the future, where Haru and Elie have married, and have a child named Levin (who appears in the omake comics at the end of the Rave manga volumes. This is something I've wanted to write for a while, as I've always wondered… what does Elie actually think about Resha Valentine..

Enjoy!!

Levin looked out of the window, hoping that the view had finally changed into something different. He sighed. Sand. There was still sand outside, Vast aches of sand which stretched out in all directions. A desert void of life, the only thing he'd seen from the airship window for about an hour now.

He yawned, wondering why his parents had dragged him out here. Usually whenever his parents announced they were going somewhere, it was always to some exciting and strange place. In his three years, Levin had been to the tallest mountain in Song Continent, Mildesta, an underwater village populated with mer-people, the jungles of Higashi and even Makai, the demon world. So why they were at this boring place confused him. He had decided to wait awhile before asking, in case his parents would surprise him, but now that didn't seem likely.

He heard the ship's engines whine, and felt the craft slow down and descend. Sensing something was about to happen, he ran as fast as his short legs could carry him to the cockpit.

Inside, he found his mother and father talking with his two uncles. "You sure you want me to stop here?"

"It's here. I know it is. I can feel it." His mother spoke quietly.

"Okay then. I'll set her down."

"Where we goin'?" Levin asked. His mother blinked as she turned and knelt down to face him.

"Oh Levin. I almost forgot about you. I hope you're not too bored."

"I am. Where are we? What are we doing here?"

His father gave a small smile. "Your mum needed to come out here, to sort something out."

Levin noticed his dad had that concerned look on his face, the kind he had when he worried about someone. "Sort something out? But there's nothing out there. Just loads of sand."

His mother smiled sadly. "I know. Can you believe this was a whole country once?"

"A country?" Levin was used to his mother acting odd, but even this made no sense. How could a country turn into a desert? "Why do you have to go out there?"

"I have to do something.. I should have done a long time ago. I've been putting it off.." She smirked. "You know how lazy I am."

Levin laughed. "I know. But we'll help you out."

She shook her head. "Sorry, but I have to do this on my own. You and your dad have to stay behind.

Levin's eyes shot open." Stay here? But it'll be boring! And you can't go alone. There could be trouble."

She shot a proud glance at him. "You have a job here. You have to make sure your uncles don't kill each other."

Levin had to agree with that. He could already hear shouts of 'Shuddy!' and "Silver Jackass!' behind him. His dad moved closer and ruffled his hair.

"Tell you what Levin. Once your mum's finished here, we'll go to Ruby's casino. You can play in the arcade. Sounds fun?"

His eyes lit up. "Yeah!!"

"Okay then." His dad then looked at his mother. "Elie… are you sure you want to do this?"

Her eyes seemed sad. "Please Haru… I have to."

He nodded, and kissed her for a few seconds. Before Levin got the chance to tease them, his mother parted from his dad, then knelt down and hugged him. 

"Be good." Then she walked out of the room.

Levin was tempted to follow her, but decided not to jeopardise his chances of going to the casino. He toddled over to a window. He could see his mother had left the ship and was now walking across the sand. Satisfied, he decided to try and calm his uncles down.

Elie padded across the sand, her eyes slightly downcast. She didn't feel the heat from the sun, her mind was on other things. She had walked a fair distance from the airship, when she felt it. A flash of heat, a ripple in the air. A sensation of magic.

The air before her shimmered, and a set of large pine trees sprung up in front of her. More appeared behind her and all around, but she stood calmly, waiting for the illusion to finish. She recalled being frightened out of her wits the first time she was here.

She turned around, knowing what was behind her. A skeleton, dirtied and decayed by years of exposure to the elements, sat on a rock. Elie stifled a small giggle. Once this odd guardian had scared her, now he looked rather bored, the way he was sitting.

"One day, I'm going to figure out just who you are, and get you a decent funeral." She spoke softly. She patted the skull, then walked past the bones, onto a path further into this forest.

A short distance later she emerged in a clearing, and walked toward the center. It felt cooler now, she realised. Magic, or maybe the trees. She kept walking until she reached the only structure in this lonely forest. A large cross, carved from red marble. She knelt down before it, running a hand through the still smooth stone, and brushing the letters of the name on a small plaque at the base.

Resha Valentine.

"It's been I while, hasn't it? Since I came here." She spoke softly to the stone. "I bet you never expected me to show up again."

There was no sound to give her a response, just the gentle breeze. She sat in a comfortable position, not feeling foolish about talking to a dead woman. After all her adventures, she was certain that, in some small way, the creator of Holy Bring would hear her.

"I guess I've been meaning to come here for a while, but I kept putting it off. I've been so busy. Helping Haru's sister get married and all that.. but I've also been a bit afraid. Afraid to just really talk to you."

She looked up at the sky. "I still remember the day I first saw you. When I saw your picture in the museum. I was so confused, that I looked like someone as famous as you."

"But it made me more determined to find out who you were, and maybe who I was. I would follow the Rave Master no matter what, to find my past. It was just too bad the answers I wanted came at the expense of people… If I'd known the quest to find myself would put people in peril, I would never have started."

She sighed. "You made it so difficult. I know you only wanted to keep the power of Aetherion safe, but did you have to leave me wondering about it?"

The stone said nothing, of course, and Elie wished there was some sort of physical appearance of Resha to talk to.

"I hated the fact that there was this power within me, and that I couldn't control it. All I wanted was for it to go away. At least I did. Then you showed me that memory of my parents. I felt better then. I knew I could help Haru with this power, and that I wasn't some freak of nature."

"But even so.." She shifted closer to the grave. "I still felt angry toward you."

She glanced back at the clearing entrance, as if debating whether to move or stay. "I've never told anyone this, not even Haru. It's something I kept to myself all those months, because it wasn't important. What I felt toward you, it didn't matter then. All that mattered was finding the link between you and me. But even now… it just seems like such a terrible thing to say about you, the one who helped stopped Dark Bring. But I have to say it to you, just so we can both be content."

She took a deep breath, mustering strength in her voice. 

"I hated you."

She exhaled, relieved that she could finally say it out loud. Already she felt a weight of her chest.

But it wasn't enough, not yet. She had to make her understand.

"I'm sorry to sound so blunt about it. But its true. During the whole quest, I hated you. Every thought, every mention of you or Symphonia made my blood boil. I couldn't help it. It was just so many things that angered me about you." 

"Like the fact that I had this power of yours, and I couldn't use it without causing damage. That somehow, you were intertwined with my destiny, yet it was so hard to figure out. That in all the journeys to find my past, Haru or someone else would get hurt…"

Her gaze bored into the gravestone. "But most of all, I hated you… because you were somebody. You were famous, everyone knew about you, your past. They cared. I was nobody. I didn't have a past, I wasn't a person… I was just there."

Silence. She focused on the stone, waiting for her emotions to get under control. But already, she felt better, knowing she no longer had to live with her burden

"I'm sorry I was so blunt." She looked up. "If I upset you, I'm sorry."

The breeze suddenly turned warm. She wondered if it was a sign.

Levin plodded onto the gangplank exit, walking onto the sand. He hoped he could find something to do outside, cause his elders were being very noisy. His dad was trying to get his uncles under control, after Uncle Shuda had set fire to Uncle Musica's shoes. They had chased each other into the bowels of the ship, so Levin was on his own. Moving into the shade of one of the ship's wings, he decided to make sandcastles.

As he gathered sand in his hands, he suddenly saw a flash of green on the other side of the ship. Walking under it, he gasped in surprise at the sight of a massive forest, made of tall green trees. He blinked, not sure if he was seeing things. But it was definitely there.

He then realised it was in the direction his mother had walked in.

Fear stabbed at his heart. Where had this forest come from, and why was his mother in there? His heart told him his mother needed help, and so he dashed off toward the trees.

She sat silently, as if waiting for an answer. None came, but she hoped she had been heard.

"But I didn't come here just to tell you that. I hated you, but I'm over that now. Actually… I came to say thank you."

Her gaze travelled to the plaque. "It wasn't good of me to hate you, but I did. And in a way, that hate helped me to learn a lot about myself."

"I was determined to find out about who we were, and that led me to actually doing things I would probably never do otherwise. I ended up fighting enemies which would have destroyed my friends. Through that quest, I learned how to fight, how to stand up to stuff without others supporting me. I helped people. Which was a good feeling."

She stared up at the sun again, as if relieved that it was there, shining as always. "All of a sudden, I was somebody. Maybe I didn't have a past, but people would see me as something. They'd see me as a friend, as a protector… as a person. And in return, I joined in their lives. I learned to really enjoy life, to stop wallowing in my misery and have fun. I made friends with new people, and reinforced my unity with the old gang." She smiled. "I should thank you for that as well. I might never have gone on that journey for so long without thinking of finding you. Without you, I may not have met Musica, Let, Julia, Shuda and the rest… or realised how much Haru meant to me."

"But it was when Haru finally told me that he loved me, right before we entered the Stellar Memories… I realised that I didn't need to find my past. He loved me… not for the person I was, but the person I am to him. He needed me to live…"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

Elie leaped in fright as the loud scream pierced the quiet air. She got on her feet, shock as she realised who the voice belonged to.

"Levin!!" She bolted from the clearing, and ran back to the entrance of the forest. Levin was there, standing in front of the skeleton and shivering. He burst into tears when he noticed her.

"Mama!!" He ran into her open arms, and she hugged him to her chest as he sobbed. "Mama I came to find you cause the forest appeared!! I thought you were in trouble and I saw…" He finished in tears. Elie held her son tight, stroking his hair to calm him down.

"There there… I didn't mean to scare you Levin….." She consoled. "I didn't mean to be so long."

"I wanna go home…"

"We will…" An idea sprang in her mind. "But before we do, I want you to see somebody."

He went rigid in her arms. She chuckled, wiping his tears. "Don't worry, she's a very nice person. She won't hurt you, I promise."

Levin thought for a few seconds. "Okay… but don't go away."

"I won't." She got up, taking his hand, and the two walked back to the grave.

"Resha… I want you to meet my son, Levin."

Levin was confused. "Mama, there's no one there."

"Well there is, sort of." Elie knelt next to him. "Look really hard. You should see a woman who looks like me, but with longer hair."

He squinted. "Oh… oh yeah… I see her now. Does she live here?"

"In a way…" Elie smiled. "Her name is Resha."

"Hallo Resha." The boy waved.

Elie straightened up, her eyes on the grave. "And this is why I came. In a way, you're responsible for me pushing myself to make my own life… and I got more than I ever dreamed off…. People who would do anything for me, a husband who loves me dearly, and a son… a family… I owe it all to you…

Levin wondered why his mother was getting teary all of a sudden, but decided to keep quiet while she talked to 'Resha'.

"I wonder if you hate me now.. now that I have found happiness, while you're not here…" She sighed. "If you do, I won't hold it against you… but I hope where ever you are… you have what I have."

"Mama, are you okay?" Levin asked. They heard a rustling behind them, and turned to see Haru run up, out of breath.

"Levin?" He knelt down. "Didn't I tell you to stay on the ship?"

"Sorry Papa. I was worried about Mama." Levin replied. His father sighed. "But don't worry. I'm with Mama and Resha now."

Haru turned to his wife. "Oh right… Did you do what you wanted to do?"

She nodded. "Yes… It was hard… but it needed to be said." She hugged him. "Come on. It's time to go."

"We goin'?" Levin asked as Haru lifted him onto his shoulders. Elie nodded, taking Levin's hand. The small family then walked back to the clearing entrance.

As they got farther from the grave, the trees began to shimmer and waver, and faded away into thin air. Levin looked around in amazement, then pointed back. "Look!!"

Haru and Elie spun to look, and got a fright. Standing next the gravestone, was Resha Valentine herself, looking like she never died. She raised an arm and waved at the three. Levin waved back, and his parents, blinking back from a trance, followed suit.

Then Resha, and the grave disappeared, along with the rest of the forest. The three were left standing in a patch of desert.

"Wow!" Levin gasped. "Mama, Papa, did you see her?"

"Yeah…"

"Where did she go?"

"Where she belongs…" Haru spoke softly. "So anyway Levin, you still up for that visit to Ruby's?"

"Yeah!!" Levin cheered. With that, Haru took off at high speed back to the airship.

Elie watched the two with a smile. Thank heaven Levin had a short attention span. She hoped he wouldn't ask too many questions. After all, she and Haru had sworn never to tell him of their past lives unless it was necessary.

She looked back at the desert behind her.

"Thank you Resha… you shaped my life… now I'll shape our future."

And she went to rejoin her important boys.

THE END


End file.
